A Trace of Moonlight by Allison Pang

APang-Trace of Moonlight

APang-Trace of MoonlightI so love Allison Pang’s Abby Sinclair series…and I am sure Jackie heard me squee all the way in Michigan when she told me she’d received the ARC for A Trace of Moonlight.  Even Allison would likely tell you that I’ve been begging, pleading and otherwise being obnoxious since I finished A Sliver of Shadow. I have no defense here, I’m shameless.  Besides, after the ending to A Sliver of Shadow, how could you not want A Trace of Moonlight like…ya know…NOW? *G*  Allison did not disappoint…unless you count the fact that A Trace of Moonlight is the finale. *sigh*

Drinking from the waters of lethe and offering herself up as Faerie’s sacrificial Tithe . . . these just might be the least of Abby Sinclair’s problems. 

Abby’s pact with a daemon—whether or not she remembers making it—is binding, so she’d better count herself lucky that (in the words of a daemon who knows better) there’s nearly always a loophole. But her friends’ reckless attempts to free her, well intentioned though they may be, set off a disastrous chain of events. In no time at all, Abby turns her incubus lover mortal, then gets herself killed, cursed, and married to an elven prince whose mother wants her dead. On top of everything else, she’s lost the Key to the CrossRoads to her mortal enemy, who promptly uses his restored power to wreak havoc on the OtherWorld and put its very existence in jeopardy. Only one person can make things right again, but to find her, Abby must place her trust in allies of mixed loyalties, and conquer her nightmares once and for all.

This review is pretty difficult to write for several reasons. First, have I mentioned I love this series? If not well….heh.  Second, A Trace of Moonlight is the finale of the trilogy and thus is bittersweet.  Finally, there is sooo much that happens that it’s hard to not give away spoilers.  So, before you read further, take hefty note that there will be minor spoilers from A Sliver of Shadow and because I’m trying pretty hard not to spoil A Trace of Moonlight, I’m not really going to get into a lot of detail on overall story lines.  Also, since A Trace of Moonlight is the finale, I’m not going to spend time going into what I think about the heroes/heroine.  I’m really going to limit this to what I think about things overall as a whole.

As I’ve mentioned A Trace of Moonlight is the finale to the Abby Sinclair trilogy.  I will caution you now, if you have not yet read A Brush of Darkness and A Sliver of Shadow, do NOT read A Trace of Moonlight until you have.  The story line is progressive with each book and none of them make sense without reading the previous novel.

A Trace of Moonlight picks up right where events in A Sliver of Shadow left off.  Which, well, was a huge cliffhanger and I remember telling Allison I needed A Trace of Moonlight NOW ha ha! So never fear, you’ll get resolution to that ending….and sooo much more.  The action is jammed packed from page 1. There really aren’t that many lulls in action, which I like.  For those of you who follow my reviews, you know I get bored easily and usually when the action in a book wanes.  Not an issue here.  Allison warned me before I started that she puts her characters through hell and back.  She wasn’t kidding either.  A Trace of Moonlight was a roller coaster…but in the best of ways.  After all, there was so much for her to wrap up and well, without all the chaos, A Trace of Moonlight would have been kind of boring.  Once I finished, I had a book hangover.  All I could think about (and still do as I write this) was Abby & Co.  Such is always the mark of a good book and A Trace of Moonlight is no exception.

Since A Trace of Moonlight is the final book of the trilogy, I can promise you that the overall story arc regarding Abby, Maurice and the Queen is resolved and what they go through to get this resolution is not easy.  There were a lot of twists and turns I never saw coming.  I’m having a hard time because I feel if I really talk much more about why I feel things get wrapped up or what kinds of twists/turns are thrown in, I’ll give away some really big spoilers.  All that you’ve learned about Abby and her powers, plus powers of other characters (Ion and Sonja in particular) come in big time.  You’ll also learn more about Phin’s role and why Abby’s dad sent him to her back in A Brush of Darkness.

Actually, what Phin goes through kind of breaks my heart.  I will be kind and tell you he doesn’t die. I’ll spare you that panic, but, he isn’t as snarky and fun as he’s been in the past. You’ll understand why once you read what happens.  He’s earned a break, that is for sure.  Don’t worry…all that snark and feistiness is still there, he just needs a good, long vacation….oh and bacon.

For those of you who have read the first 2 novels, you know there is a love triangle that was set up in A Sliver of Shadow, you will get a resolution to that as well.  The blurb above gives something away…but uh…I’m not saying another word. No telling who she marries, when that happens or anything else involving this triangle.  I also admit, I saw Allison during AAD NOLA, which was right as I was getting the ARC (Jackie mailed it to the hotel for me…*grin*), and I had the chance to interview her (come back on Oct 23rd to see what we talked about).  During said interview, I kept trying to get her to tell me if Abby ended up with Ion. Yeah…Team Ion here people! Though, really, I do adore Talivar…but Ion captured my heart in A Brush of Darkness. My begging had no effect…I got nada on spoilers, so you’re not getting any either ;).  The ending to A Trace of Moonlight is not what I thought it would be…but I think no matter which “team” you’re on, you won’t be disappointed.

I am hopeful Allison is not done with the characters and/or this world, even knowing Abby won’t be a main character, at least for a while, of any new books set in this world.  Trust me, Allison is not lying when she says Abby needs a break after everything that goes down in A Trace of Moonlight.  Once you finish A Trace of Moonlight you’ll understand more why I agree and believe there is so much more left to tell with these characters and in this world.  A Trace of Moonlight itself wraps the events regarding Maurice up, but there are several story threads left still dangling. And yes, I do believe this was intentional.  Sadly, as of the time this review was written, Allison has not yet been contracted for anything additional with this world.  So if you want more, help spread the word. Sales make a difference when publishers decide whether or not to contract for more books and I know I want more. I’m not above shamelessly asking y’all to help me spread the word so that hopefully Allison will get contracted for more. *grin*

While they’re labeled “urban fantasy”, fans of straight fantasy should also enjoy A Trace of Moonlight, and the entire series, as they are not set in any actual modern town.  Plus, there’s even something for PNR fans with enough romantic subplot thrown in to be quite satisfying.

I cannot say enough great things about A Trace of Moonlight and the Abby Sinclair trilogy as a whole.   I’m super sad that Abby’s story is over (for now) but I have my fingers crossed that we’ll see everyone again….soon.

Read Order:
A Brush of Darkness
A Sliver of Shadow
A Trace of Moonlight

About Nicole 146 Articles
Attorney by day, Publicist for Barclay Publicity and reviewer/LE (assistant) editor by night. I'm a huge book nerd and love to read. I have 2 dogs, both Labrador retriever mixed breeds, who are very rotten and think they run the house. Let's not lie, they totally do, I just can't them know it ha ha! My usual genre is romance or urban fantasy. I love all things having to do with paranormal, with the occasional good contemp/BDSM/erotica thrown in to spice it all up.

2 Comments

  1. I hope you love it as much as I did!! It really was super hard to not just shout “GO BUY THIS BOOK” he he ;)

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